The Last Song
by Allyone
Summary: Prof. Xavier has managed to discover a rather strange way to help Marie control her mutant abilities, concerning the kiss of true love. Logan must realize he's the only one for her before his last chance to tell her, during the final song, is gone.
1. La Bamba

Disclaimer: We know how this goes. I don't own x-men. Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
"La la la la la la bamba.. Oh, I'm feeling the magic of the Spanish words that I apparently cannot understand," Marie sang as she danced around her room, leaving anyone who happened to walk by her room under the assumption that she had quite a few bottles of wine.   
  
Her eyes were shut as she danced around her fairly small room as she made the most of the limited space. She seemed to have been pretending to be on a stage, just dancing her soul away, or perhaps dancing some consumed alcohol away. If there was anything that made her truly brighten up, that was music and Logan. (Logan being her personal favorite of the two.)  
  
'What would I do without Richie Valens right now as I give the poor children a reason to shield their eyes? The possibilities are endless,' she quickly thought to herself before getting back into the spirit of the music.  
  
Logan, at unfortunately the same time, was making his way down the very hallway that contained Marie's room, which was booming out "La la la la la bamba" and other Spanish words that were quite unknown to him. At first, he was more scared then excited about seeing her. He began to think of possibilities. The first of the possibilities that struck him was that he himself could have finally reached that point where he was nothing short of delusional or Marie could simply be the insane one.   
  
The amazing bond that the both of them shared was seen and even felt by everyone. Marie and Logan seemed to be the only ones who put themselves under the illusion that they were only "friends". Deep down, they were both aware that if they could make the words "just friends" completely disappear from the world, they'd be the first to do so. Sometimes they would each wonder if it hurt more just pretending that they were never meant to become anything more then simply extremely caring friends.   
  
Logan couldn't stop himself from looking into Marie's room. The curiosity was overwhelming. It seemed as if the longer he looked into the room without her realizing, the more his eyes widened in complete shock.   
  
He leaned against the door frame as a smile began to twitch at his lips.   
  
"If you're going to get wasted, could you do everyone here a favor and play music that's in English?", he attempted to say over the music.  
  
He wasn't heard. She only continued dancing, leaving him ignored.   
  
"If I only I knew words other then 'la bamba', oh yes," she attempted to sing over the Spanish lyrics. She didn't see Logan yet, who was now attempting to contain his laughter.  
  
"I'm fairly sure that this is illegal in Mexico!", he shouted much louder then his first attempt, which stopped her dead in her tracks. By her now frozen figure, he assumed that she had heard him. She turned around to now face the doorway.   
  
Her eyes trailed up and down the masculine figure leaning against her door frame. There was no way she could get out of this. There was Spanish music blasting, an extremely attractive man remarking on how her dance moves are illegal, and all she could do was lower the music somewhat.  
  
Logan grinned at the embarrassed expression on her face as the blush snuck into her cheeks. She did her best to not seem the slightest bit embarrassed, but that plan was far from working. He knew her all too well. It was even more amazing that she didn't run up to hug him yet.  
  
"It's all right, Logan. We don't have to tell anyone. You're just jealous you can't do these moves." She ran a hand through her now messy hair as she attempted to be serious (for effect) about everything that just happened in the last two minutes. With every second, it was getting harder and harder for her to contain the smile twitching at her lips. It was nearly unbearable for her to continue playing along with this 'act' without hugging him yet.   
  
"We'll just have to wait for those dance lessons you promised me, right?" He was suprised that he had kept himself from even going anywhere near her for this long. This was especially strange due to the fact that he had been away for the past three and a half months.  
  
She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to pretend as best as humanly possible that she was angry. "Well, now we wouldn't have to worry about those dance lessons if you didn't go away, now would we?"   
  
He shook his head in amazement as finally she allowed a big smile to make itself known among the many features on her face.   
  
"I missed you."   
  
And with those words spoken, she went up to hug him as tightly as humanly possible, and all while being careful not to make contact between their skin. It was almost like a sort of healing experience for both of them, where they both were filled were warmth and happiness. That warmth and happiness would still be able to exist if they were somewhere in Alaska half naked with polar bears getting ready to attack them. As long as they were together, that warmth would exist. Neither wanted to release the other, but since they both had themselves placed under the illusion that they were just friends, they had to let go eventually.  
  
At one point Marie believed that she barely managed to convince herself that he would never want her in that way because of her slight inability to touch people without killing them. Then, Logan thought that he was convinced that she could never want a rough man like him for someone to love her. He thought she needed someone guaranteed to never hurt her. He never saw the fact that he was the only one who could never hurt her in any possible way.   
  
They spoke with eachother about how his trip was and the minor problem that Scott's car had a slight dent in it. She didn't bother asking when he would be leaving throughout their conversation. She knew that he would tell her when he himself found out sometime soon. She was never really sure about that with him.   
  
For some reason, this time that he returned, things felt differently. It was almost as if he was going to permanently stay with her. It was such a crazy thought to her at the moment, but as hard as she tried she couldn't erase that possibility. Nevertheless, they could have gone on forever just talking to eachother. No. Not even just talking. They could just sit together and feel happy with their surroundings, as long as they were close to eachother. The only problem was that they were the only people who didn't see how perfect for eachother they truly were.   
  
Somewhere towards the middle of the conversation, a voice sounded in Marie's head, which she quickly realized was Professor Xavier. He apparently was trying to tell her something of importance.  
  
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I need to have a discussion with you as soon as possible. Normally, I would ask you to come see me at a more appropriate hour, but I believe there is something you should be aware of," the voice sounded in her head. The seriousness of his tone of voice made her increasingly worried.   
  
"What.. What's wrong?", Logan asked with a look of concern crossing over his features after he noticed that Marie seemed to blank out for a little while.  
  
"Professor wants to talk about something. I bet it has to do with the music. Here we go." Marie sighed and promised to get back to Logan as fast as she could get out of Professor's office.  
  
"I told you to dance to something more English," Logan said teasingly. At least he didn't seem to be worried about anything.  
  
She shrugged her shoulders in response, and began making her trip to find the Professor. A feeling of nervousness settled in her stomach. She didn't think that the music could have been that loud. No. Nevermind. It was extremely loud.   
  
'But loud music is definitely not something to sound so urgent about, right?' she thought to herself. What other reasons could there be?   
  
She couldn't think of anything serious that she could have done or anything that could have happened which could possibly affect her, besides Logan's return home. The walk seemed longer then it actually was, and part of her wished that it could have been even longer when she finally reached the door. Behind the door was Professor, waiting patiently to speak with her. She figured it was no use just standing out there since he probably already knew she arrived.   
  
She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the worst. The doors opened and from that moment on her life was about to change forever.   
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
ok. yes yes. it was my first shot at an x-men fanfiction. let me know what you thought (good or bad). i promise i'll get all the determination i can to finish this story if you guys are interested. see you soon.  
  
- escense 


	2. Risky Experimentation

Disclaimer: We know how this goes. I don't own x-men. Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
authors note: i was very psyched over the reviews. yeaaa they definitely give me more determination to finish the story lmao. i hope you're into the chapter.   
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Logan sighed. She'd been gone for almost an hour now. The best advice he had given himself was to hope for the best and expect the worst. He laid on his bed, wondering would could possibly be happening to her. He would at least have appreciated the Professor giving him some sort of telepathic note that everything was alright.   
  
He couldn't remember the last time that he felt so at home or even so comfortable lying on a bed. No, he did remember. It was three and a half months ago, specifically the last night he spent at the school before he decided to leave. The room was somewhat comforting in its own sense. The drapes fell over the window lightly, yet were transparent enough to allow some of the moonlight through. The room seemed to be at peace, but unfortunately the person in the room was far from that.  
  
It wasn't at all like Logan to be so concerned over something like this. He assumed the Professor had to discuss something a bit more important with her then just the music. It doesn't take one hour and forty-five minutes to scold a student about the limits of volume on a radio.   
  
He was the only person who didn't see how different he acted whenever Marie was around. Then again, Marie was probably the only person completely willing to give her life for him, which in a sense can explain everything. It was nearly a miracle watching him change whenever Marie was around. His personality was nearly the opposite with every other being that he spoke with except for Marie.   
  
Marie changed him in multiple ways. For example, he was somewhat more laid back after getting closer with her. Despite this, he still continued to pretend as if he didn't care about anything or anyone, but everyone knew that wasn't true. As Marie changed him, Logan had changed her as well. She wasn't nearly as shy anymore. She'd grown in confidence somewhat. The two complimented eachother, and it was only them who didn't see it.  
  
'If Marie doesn't get back soon, I swear I'm going to end up either eating comfort food out of boredom or I'll be busting into Professor's office because of an incredible amount of curiosity,' he groaned, continuing his 'staring contest' with the ceiling.   
  
_________________________________________________________  
  
Marie burst into uncontrollable laughter for the seventh time, once again failing to hold it in. The Professor was at least relieved that he managed to explain the situation in its entirety before she cracked up again.  
  
"Rogue, please take this seriously," the Professor sighed exhaustedly, "You've seemed to be laughing on and off for the past hour and fifteen minutes."  
  
She covered her mouth with her hand and attempted to nod seriously while letting a few giggles escape from her lips. Almost immediately, the idea of what the Professor told her returned into her mind and she burst out with laughter once more.  
  
Professor Xavier looked down in defeat and began to rub his temples. This wasn't going to be easy. The idea was ridiculous, but he had proof that it would work. Unfortunately, he never had the proof that Marie might understand or even listen.   
  
"The idea...oh..my.. its like.. sleeping..beauty.. im.. just not.. sleeping," she barely managed to say in-between laughs.  
  
Professor Xavier was suprised that his patience held out for this long. He rested his hands on his lap, waiting for her to get all the laughter out of her system once more.  
  
"Walt.. Disney.. didn't.. even think.. up.. something..like.. that," she said in-between constant laughter before accidentally mocking Professor Xavier with her following comment, "Ok, gentlemen, line up, if you're her true love when you kiss her, she'll be able to have human contact. If not, you'll die," she laughed harder at her sarcastic comment when it replayed in her mind.  
  
Professor was finding no amusement nor humor in this.  
  
"It's worth trying. If you find a charming gentleman and reach the point where the both of you believe you have true feelings for eachother, you'll be able to control your mutant power," Professor restated for the tenth time, hoping that this time it might sink in to her head.  
  
Marie seemed to have herself somewhat under control as she began speaking again. "How is it worth trying? I might end up killing one hundred innocent people just by a kiss. I respect your intelligence, but this idea is ridiculous." She coughed and placed a hand in front of her mouth in order to hide her smile.  
  
"Are one hundred people going to proclaim their undying love for you? Rogue, that is not very likely. I did not mean it offensively, just realistically," he yawned and excused himself before continuing, "Are you at least going to allow me to explain how I came about this idea?"  
  
"Of course."   
  
"Without finding it amusing?"  
  
"That's not guaranteed," she replied honestly.  
  
He took a deep breath before beginning his explanation. "I believe that the thing that makes your ability to kill people with a single touch sources from your own feelings. The only way that you will be capable of controlling this is by finding someone you truly love. I am not one hundred percent sure, but it seems very likely to me that your mutant abilities will turn off so to speak as soon as you become in human contact with the man you love. Obviously, if you truly love the man who you believe loves you equally as much, you would not want to hurt him, much less kill him," he drank a small bit of his nearly cold tea from his cup before continuing, "the feeling and extremely powerful will not to kill this man will take its effect. In conclusion, your mutant abilities will finally be under your control and you will finally be able to have contact with others."  
  
A part of her was beginning to take him seriously. "That doesn't explain everything. It's still quite a bit risky to the other guys."  
  
He smiled at her comfortingly, "I know you're scared to try, but love in itself is a risk. There's not an explanation to everything in life. Sometimes things remain as mysteries because that's how they belong. Moving on, when you find the right moment with the right person, you'll know."  
  
The look of confusion wasn't moving from her face. She ran a hand through her hair exhaustedly before saying, "I can understand that. The thing I don't understand is what happened to my ex-boyfriend. He almost died the first time I tried to kiss him. This was a bit before I came to the school, by the way."  
  
"I see. Yes, the two of you were involved, but did you feel very much love towards him, as if you two were meant to be together?"  
  
"Oh no. He was just fun to be with whenever I cou..." she stopped herself when it finally clicked. She understood was the Professor was saying, but she also knew that it wasn't going to be such an easy trip finding 'true love'. She hardly understood what love was in itself.  
  
The entire idea to her was still risky. Not only was it risky, but it seemed a bit stupid (excuse the bluntness) as well. Who knew what could happen? She wouldn't be able to deal with herself if she ended up accidentally killing a man she thought she loved.   
  
She thanked the Professor for patiently dealing with her laughter and sharing this knowledge with her before she left his office. She was off to find Logan and explain all of the recent past events.   
  
'God.. He's going to laugh harder then I did,' she thought as she tiredly stretched her arms out a bit, beginning her search for Logan.   
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
author's note: yeaaa chapter 2 is completed. sorry about the shortness. i was tired tonight. i promise to write a much longer chapter for three. ohh please be gentle with reviews. i'll see you guys in chapter 3, hopefully soon. night 


	3. Night Humor

Disclaimer: We know how this goes. I don't own x-men. Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
authors note: i was very psyched over the reviews again. yeaaa they definitely give me more determination to finish the story lmao. i hope you like the chapter. see you at the bottom.   
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
She kneeled down quietly next to the bed which had Logan as its sleeping occupant. She looked him over. He seemed to be sleeping peacefully with no nightmares for once. She could have stood there simply watching him forever. She was a bit surprised that he hadn't sensed her yet. If he had sensed her, truth be told, he was too tired to care at this point.  
  
She was debating in her mind whether to wake him or not. The news she wanted to tell him was a big deal, especially for her. Either she could get clawed for waking him or a hell of a lot of dirty looks from him in the morning.   
  
She glanced at the digital clock. 12:46AM it read. She wondered out of insanity if it was mocking her when the digits changed to 12:47AM.  
  
She could possibly pretend that it was already morning. Technically it was. Then again, Logan wasn't really the stupid type who would fall for it.  
  
'He..hopefully wont get that mad.. No.. This is Logan here.. He doesn't seem to be having nightmares, so that lowers the chances of me getting clawed by him. Alrighty. That's great,' she thought to herself, hoping that he'd sense her before she might have to wake him. She knew she'd be up all night without telling him this news.  
  
'God, Logan. You sensed me when I was hiding in your trunk, but now? No. Of course not.' She rolled her eyes, still trying to gather her courage to wake him. She had never really waken him up before. Of all times, now he had to go and look at peace and calm as he slept. Now she'd feel bad for waking him. It was rare to see him peaceful, considering the type of restless person he could sometimes be, especially when he sometimes went out to look for what was left of his past and answers.  
  
After letting another ten minutes pass in silence while she simply gathered the courage to wake him, she finally decided in a heartbeat that she'd do it.  
  
"Logan, I just came back from the Professor's office," she whispered, softly touching his arm.  
  
"Marie..?" he managed to ask with his voice muffled under the pillow.  
  
"Good morning, sunshine," she said somewhat sarcastically before continuing, "you're not going to believe what the Professor told me." She was having trouble containing the excitement, yet she didn't want to get her hopes up too high over what the Professor told her earlier.  
  
"Go to sleep," he muttered tiredly.  
  
"I promise you'll be surprised. More surprised then when I shaved your face while you were sleeping." She snickered at the memory.  
  
"I was more pissed then surprised. You're lucky you seemed wasted enough to do it." He groaned and dismissed the thought of going back to sleep. He at one point thought that Marie wasn't going to stop now, especially that she finally got him somewhat conscious.   
  
"You want me to tell you tomorrow?" She sighed.  
  
"It already is tomorrow. It's one in the morning," he said tiredly after glancing at the digital clock.  
  
"I probably shouldn't have woken you up, but this is so big, Logan. It's going to seem incredibly stupid, but its still big," she said before letting out a yawn while realizing that she was beginning to feel a bit tired herself.  
  
"What did he say?" He groaned, half-expecting a story about her almost getting kicked out of the school due to the loud music.  
  
"Who?" Her eyelids were getting heavier.  
  
"The Professor," he stated in a somewhat frustrated tone. He wasn't a morning person. One of the few times that he might wake up happy to Marie's voice is only if she was the one in his strong arms, sleeping with him.  
  
"Oh.. right," she mumbled as she got off of her sitting position on the floor and moved on to lie down beside him in his bed. This movement shocked him a bit, but it was definitely welcomed.   
  
She yawned once again while making herself comfortable in the bed before saying, "I might finally be able to have human contact."  
  
She was just about to shut her eyes and allow sleep to take its hold on her until he immediately sat up in bed, staring at her.  
  
"Repeat that," he said in a demanding tone with shock quite evident as well. Did he just imagine that? The feelings running throughout him right now were so mixed that he had no idea what to do with them. Hope, shock, more hope, excitement, and.. it could have even been happiness there also.  
  
"I'll be able to control my mutant power as soon as my true love kisses me," she began to laugh quietly at the thought all over again. She turned over on her side, getting ready to go to sleep.   
  
Now he really wasn't sure if he was delusional. First it was the strange 'la bamba' dancing. Now this?   
  
He looked over her half-asleep figure in confusion. Did he just imagine all of this? No. He didn't. Marie was really lying in his bed and she did mention that the Professor told her something important.. and slightly stupid.  
  
"Were you watching a Disney movie, Marie?" He asked before lying back down with a deep sigh. He figured that must have been it. It seemed to be a reasonable explanation. He was somewhat upset at the fact that he just felt his hopes drop with a hard crash at the end. "If it was just a Disney movie, you didn't have to wake me up over it." He at least tried not to sound too angry or upset.  
  
He moved to rest on his side so that he wasn't facing her.  
  
He heard her voice which seemed to be coming out from under a pillow, "I'm dead serious. I'm not wasted nor have I been watching Disney movies, although I'm partly sure that you've been checking out the summary for 'Beauty and the Beast'." She snickered, hoping that he wouldn't hear.  
  
He turned onto his back, trying to get comfortable. For a second he thought that it wasn't right that she wasn't in his arms, but he immediately dismissed the thought.   
  
"Don't be a wiseass at 1:15 in the morning. What did the Professor say?" He was expecting the truth at this point.  
  
"I'll be able to control my mutant power as soon as I get the first kiss from my true love," she replied in a somewhat frustrated tone. She finally figured that it would have been better to tell him in the morning. That way, at least both of them would have gotten more sleep.   
  
He couldn't be serious about this anymore. There was no use. He just had to laugh at the fact that she was still sticking behind her 'Disney' story that he could not bring himself to believe. She heard a small chuckle beginning to build up to full-out laughter.  
  
"Logan."  
  
No answer. He was still laughing. She rolled her eyes as she thought, 'Great. He's almost laughing as hard as I was. Keep laughing, claw-boy.'  
  
The sad part was that neither of them had gotten any sleep. She was getting even more tired by the minute, while he just seemed to be more awake. This was not working out as well as she thought it would. At least she was fairly satisfied with the last half-hour because she managed to make him laugh within that time range.   
  
What the Professor had told her wasn't a joke, but it was still nice to hear him laugh. Because it was rare to hear him laugh, it made her worry that someone in the next room would hear him and assume that he was fairly drunk.   
  
"Actually, the Professor's exact words were 'the feeling and extremely powerful will not to kill the guy I love will take its effect and my mutant abilities will just turn off so to speak' or something along those lines," she said through his laughter.  
  
He sat up, now chuckling, and turned to look at her. She looked up tiredly after she felt him leaning over her and suddenly both of their eyes met. Now was not the time to be noticing his intense eyes, but she couldn't help herself. He seemed to be checking her for any signs that she was kidding at all. She wasn't even cracking a smile. As corny as it is, through her eyes he saw the truth.   
  
"You're being serious." His laughter had finally stopped completely. He hadn't realized how awake he was and how sleepy she had become until now.  
  
"Yes. In fact, I believe Pinocchio is waiting for me outside too." She spoke with a thick sarcasm around her words as she tore her eyes away from his.  
  
"Stop bullshitting for two minutes. The Professor actually said that you might be able to control this?"  
  
"Yes." She smiled at the thought of finally having control over her mutant abilities for the millionth time.  
  
He didn't know what to do or say. After all, they were only friends so he didn't need to act as happy as a little boy who just got a lifetime supply of Tonka trucks. He was trying to keep himself from getting too close to her as much as he could. This was difficult, especially because his face was only a few inches away from hers.   
  
"I.. uh.. Goodnight, Marie." He decided to just discuss it with her in the morning. Now wasn't the time. They were both lying in a bed together, both tired, and both not sure about how mentally sane they actually were.   
  
He leaned over slightly and kissed the top of her head, specifically her hair. He loved the scent of her hair.. It was almost like warm vanilla sugar with an unexpected hint of strawberries. Marie tried to dismiss the tingles in her stomach but simply couldn't. She had almost forgotten that she was actually sleeping in the same bed as him for the night.  
  
"Goodnight, Logan." She smiled secretly to herself. This was almost like a fairy tale.   
  
Then why did she get the sudden feeling that tomorrow would be an incredibly long and hectic day?  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Reviews are my best friends lmao thank you guys for the awesome reviews so far. I hope you guys liked it. I hope to have chapter 4 up by Monday night. If not, it'll be Tuesday night. I think this chapter was more corny then my usual sort of stuff, but hey, its ok. See you guys in chapter 4. later  
  
- escense 


	4. The Night's Not Over Yet

Disclaimer: I don't own x-men. Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
Author's note: Ok. Yes. Technically, it will most likely be early Thursday morning when I update this as opposed to late Wednesday night. I have issues dealing with my laziness, but thank you so much for the reviews, guys lmao.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Lightening struck, lighting up the room for a quick second. It went as quickly as it came. The thunder was difficult to sleep through as rain pounded onto the window, but Logan seemed to be doing just fine. The thing about thunderstorms that truly scared Marie was the fact that you were never exactly sure on when the thunder would hit. It was always some sort of sick surprise. Either that or Ro was having quite a bad night.   
  
The rain pounded mercilessly against the window, never seaming to relax for a moment or give it a break. Every time thunder struck Marie couldn't help but jump at the sound, despite the fact that she was somewhat asleep.   
  
Visions of herself in Logan's position when they were implanting the metal within him haunted her mind. They. No one knew who they were except for Marie at that time, in her own mind. In her dream, it was almost as if she felt everything Logan had been through. Every time thunder struck, she dreamt that it was actually Logan banging on the doors, trying to get to her while they tore away at her insides.  
  
It was nights like these that Logan was really in her head, and all she could feel was his pain.  
  
[beginning of her dream:  
  
She heard them scribbling down on their notepads, taking down what they had observed of her suffering. Every time she opened her eyes all she could see was white. Perhaps she was dying. No. They weren't merciful enough to end her suffering. She still felt them tearing away at her. The white could have just been their jackets. That's what it was.  
  
She saw a quick flash before quickly closing her eyes again. She shut her eyes tightly as if to hide somewhere within her mind -- somewhere close to insanity. The flash played over and over again in her mind. Oh God. The possibility of the flash being another knife simply shining against the blinding light crossed her mind. She couldn't scream. A scream couldn't possibly express all the pain she felt right now.   
  
As soon as they finished tearing apart her arms, they'd move to her legs. Then her face, neck, fingers, toes, and everything you could possibly imagine. Before finishing tearing apart one part of her body, they'd move to the next. She didn't understand how she wasn't dead. She still knew she wasn't dead by the fact that she heard her heart beating in her ears. She was breathing deeply, as if she was running out of air.   
  
There were more beatings against the door. Logan. She heard him screaming her name, searching for hope that she was alive. He knew she was trapped in that hell hole of a 'surgery' room, going through the same thing he'd been through.  
  
At this point her entire body was bleeding. She was almost under the illusion that she felt some sort of cool metal rest against her open limbs and organs. No.  
  
It wasn't an illusion. [ending of dream]  
  
A piercing scream filled the room followed by tears and cries. Finally, she came to some sort of a realization that she was back into the real world again. She felt herself trembling uncontrollably.   
  
Not even a second after her scream sounded, Logan was sitting up and leaning over her, looking her over nervously. He felt all the blood rush to his head due to his concern for her, especially because he heard her sobbing. He felt his heart speeding at an indescribable rate, but refused to acknowledge it until he was sure that Marie was fine.   
  
This wasn't the first time that something like this had happened. By the sound of her scream, he knew what it was. He knew they were tearing at her insides and they would not leave her mind at peace long enough so that she could sleep. He didn't see the need to turn on the lights because he knew he would be enough to comfort her. She didn't need to see the room as some sort of relief from all the darkness. She only needed him, and he knew that.  
  
"Everything's okay now," he whispered, bringing her into his arms. Despite the circumstances, they were both reminding themselves in the back of their minds that they can't make contact with each other. The fact that they still had to worry about that sickened him more then anything.  
  
She tried to apologize through her sobbing. Although her sobbing was fairly quickly coming to an end, she was upset that she had to wake him over this. Jubes was at least used to this happening every once in a while. He was only around for this type of thing four or five times.   
  
Despite the consistency of the same nightmare and the idea that she should be used to it by now, the thoughts from the nightmare made her upset all over again.   
  
First, she was waking up Logan in the middle of the night, which she thought was a big inconvenience for him. Second, if she couldn't take the nightmare of having her skin torn apart, she wondered how could Logan have possibly dealt with that happening in real life. The thought of people doing that to Logan almost drove her to insanity.   
  
"I'm really a... mess.. God, I can't believe I'm still not used to it," she said, seeming angry at herself. Her crying had finally come to a stop as she wiped away one of the final tears.  
  
He seemed to stay quiet, putting all of his efforts into making her feel better as he rubbed her back. He couldn't think of anything to say. He wasn't sure if it was all his fault that she had these unthinkable nightmares. Should he have apologized?  
  
"I didn't mean to wake you up. I promise I won't fall asleep here anymore. Jubes is more used to this sort of stuff happening. You know, you'd think those pricks would use new knives in my dreams every once in a while, not that it would make a difference. ." She just went on and on with her random rambling until his voice silenced her.  
  
"Did I save you this time?" He asked, referring to the dream. He often wondered about that.  
  
She shook her head 'no' tiredly. She knew that it would upset him. There was no use in saying 'Yes, my hero, you kicked the crap out of the bad guys, but hey, I was still screaming my brains out as they tore away at me.' Obviously she wouldn't have screamed so much if he had actually saved her.  
  
"If I'm not saving you in your dreams, there's no way in hell I'm going to let anything happen to you in real life. You know that," he whispered in his usual hardass tone, hoping that she caught the idea that basically he was trying to say 'I care about you, and I'm sorry you're having beyond shitty nightmares.'  
  
"I'd be dead without you," she whispered in a serious manner, looking straight into his eyes, despite the darkness. Her eyes could always find his through anything and no matter how thick the darkness was. No one could explain how.  
  
"It's becoming a hobby for me to save you during the missions every once in a while. You all right and everything?" He would never stop being a hardass, would he?  
  
"Peachy. Thank you, Logan. I needed to get out the crying a bit I guess," she tried to quietly explain. Sometimes she didn't understand why she got so worked up over the nightmare. She usually wasn't scared of things easily, but this was horrifying to her.  
  
He nodded in response.   
  
He understood how she felt completely. After all, he did have the same nightmares as she did. Even worse, he had already been through the experience she dreamed about. At this point, the raging thunderstorm outside was completely forgotten.   
  
A short moment of silence began to kick in. It wasn't an awkward silence. It was more of a peaceful silence. All they could hear were the slow and calm breaths that each of them took. Suddenly, an important thought came to Marie.  
  
"How loud did I scream?" She tilted her head slightly towards him.  
  
"Loud."  
  
"..Scott and Jean didn't rush in along with the Professor asking if we were dead this time? Are they really that used to me having these nightmares?"  
  
He shrugged before speaking, "Well, Chuck probably already knows that we're fine one way or another, and since the guy is a telepath, he could just send the information right along to Jean. This way no one has to haul their ass out of bed."  
  
"Do you get smarter at night?" It wasn't one of her most intelligent questions, but it was worth a shot.  
  
"Either that or you get stupid. You ready to go back to sleep?", he glanced at the small digital clock before continuing, "it's almost four in the morning."   
  
"Do you want me to go back into Jubes' room? I understand, Logan. I swear. I'm getting used to Jubes threatening to cover my mouth with duck tape so I could shut the hell up occasionally."   
  
He didn't want her to leave. If he could prevent her from leaving tomorrow morning, he'd probably try that too.  
  
"Just go back to sleep. I doubt the nightmares will come back for a second time in the same night. Don't worry about it," he said quietly as he gently released her from his hold under his muscular arms. The more she seemed to be out of his grasp, the more he hated himself. But can he show that he truly cares for her? Of course not. That would be too sensitive to be coming from the hardass Logan. Definitely.   
  
"Thanks. Night, Logan," she whispered as she got herself settled. She thought in a somewhat upset manner, 'That's just great. I'm not in his arms anymore. No. God forbid I stay there for more then ten minutes. There's practically time limits with this guy.'  
  
"Night, Marie." They both sighed unknowingly, making themselves comfortable on the bed, hoping for at least five more hours of peaceful and undisturbed sleep.   
  
---  
  
The next morning was probably one of the strangest Marie ever had to deal with in the nineteen years that she'd been living.   
  
First, Jubilee busted into Logan's room at 7:00AM. She apparently wasn't surprised to find Marie there. It was one of her first guesses to figuring out where Marie was. She teased her, bringing up the idea of children or "little wolvies" running around. Logan restrained himself from giving her the finger, despite how tempting it actually was. He was too tired to actually tell her off.  
  
No one knew about Marie's chance to have human contact except her, the Professor, Logan, and Jubes. Of course she told Jubes everything about an hour after the "little wolvies" incident over breakfast. Jubes seemed to have taken her more seriously then Logan, which seemed unlikely, but it was happily welcomed.   
  
Jubes responded with a series of excited yells and hugs toward Marie. The sudden excited yells won them a couple of confused glances in the cafeteria, but they were easily ignored.  
  
"It's not for sure, Jubes, but it's definitely likely."  
  
"It better be likely. It's not like the Professor is the next Miss Cleo. He knows the facts. Then, it must be likely. It has to work. You have to admit, it's a clever theory," Jubes stated right before hugging Marie yet again out of her building excitement.   
  
Through the excitement, the two girls weren't aware that they were being listened in on.   
  
A devastated look crossed over Brooke's facial expression. She nearly choked on her orange juice. She overheard everything Marie said. Every single word. She almost regretted sitting at a table a bit too close to Marie.  
  
'My.. God.. That's such bullshit.. She needs to forget on getting her hopes high over this, even if it does make sense.' She rolled her eyes at the thought.  
  
She heard all the stories about Marie and Logan and they made her sick. The way Logan always saved Marie as if he was her personal Superman was the most ridiculous thing she had ever heard of. Brooke considered Logan to be hers. She was convinced that Logan's perfection was made for no one else but for her.   
  
She overflowed with jealousy whenever Logan would simply ask around to find Marie. Brooke saw the way they looked at each other with those 'loving' eyes. Of course Brooke despised Marie out of pure jealousy. Brooke blamed Marie for taking away time from Logan that Logan could have used to spend with Brooke. Logan seemed to be oblivious to Brooke's obsession with him.   
  
Brooke's obsession was definitely not a healthy one.   
  
The idea to suck the life out of Brooke crossed Marie many times, but she let it go. She hated the mature part of her telling her that killing someone wasn't the way to settle things. The amount of times that Marie received dirty glares and bad vibes from Brooke are innumerable. She didn't understand why Brooke despised her, but only responded by casually taking off her glove whenever Brooke threatened to beat her. Seconds later, Brooke would be far and out of her way.   
  
Brooke overall kept to herself, and would never do anything to harm 'her' Logan. Continuously she failed at her plans to have Logan all for herself. Many times she purposely risked her life, just to wait for Logan to come save her. Brooke was convinced that one day Logan would realize how worthless Marie was. Marie couldn't touch or pleasure him in ways that Brooke only dreamed of doing for him.   
  
Now, the idea that Marie might finally be able to control her mutant abilities threatened Brooke more then anything else in the world. Marie would be able to touch Logan -- her Logan.   
  
Brooke was completely focused on having Logan for herself.  
  
She had to eliminate the chances of Marie's dream from coming true.  
  
'I'll do whatever it takes, bitch,' Brooke glared at Marie, firing up with anger.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Author's note: Heyy it's done for the fourth chapter. I hope you guys enjoyed. I love reviews like how a penguin loves coldness lmao. See you guys in Chapter five, hopefully soon. I can't think of anything else to say lmao later.  
  
- Escense 


	5. Questions and Balls

Disclaimer: I don't own x-men. Don't sue, I have no money.  
  
Author's note: Sorry the chapter is a bit late, guys. This chapter is for those very few readers that I have lmao, just to let you guys know that you are appreciated very much, I promise. Thank you for the reviews. I'm still somewhat shocked I managed to get this chapter out despite my laziness, but hey, who knew.   
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
When Brooke and Marie completed twelfth grade, they were two of the few students given the options to either begin a career in the outside world or to teach within the school itself. First, Marie did not think she was quite ready to face the world. Second, she thought of "Mutant High" as her own home with the time that she'd spent there. That place was her refuge She grew attached to it. Thus, she stayed.   
  
Brooke stayed and taught at the school for Logan. She just wanted to see him. Wherever he went, she decided she would go as well. Considering that Logan often visited the school and stayed there over periods of time, naturally Brooke decided to stay and teach as well.  
  
"Joey, it's not too great to try to blow bubbles into Rachel's mouth when she yells," Marie stated, trying not to be too tough on Joey, while considering the fact that Rachel overly enjoyed screaming at Joey during one of their daily fights over who should play with the toy truck first. Anyway, Joey was still always just a good kid overall.   
  
Joey was secretly one of Marie's favorites. He had such a special and bubbly personality that she loved more then anything.  
  
"Her mouth is just so big though, Rogue. You could fit in so many." Joey sighed in defeat, and made the bubbles, which were flowing from his fingertips, retreat. It was one of the more stranger mutant abilities, but it came in quite useful during baths and such. Rachel, in return, eventually stuck her tongue out at him for lack of a better comeback.   
  
Marie sat at one of the many toddlers' desks in discomfort and covered her face with her hands in an exhausted manner.   
  
The only thing that made these mutant children all cooperate was music. They all loved to dance. Dancing was so much more fun for the children specifically. It was carefree. They were only seven or eight. They didn't need to worry if they were making fools of themselves because no one really knew how to dance anyway. Just to watch them dance proved how carefree children are and always will be. They were worry-free and just wanted to have fun.   
  
These children unfortunately were abandoned by their parents very early in their lives. These parents couldn't face the fact that their child was a mutant. Marie had even seen some cases where parents claimed that their children would have been murdered if discovered to have mutant abilities at such a young age. At least the parents cared enough about the children to deliver them directly to Xavier's school as opposed to simply leaving them on the streets.   
  
Marie knew how each of the kids felt. She was abandoned also in many ways, just like the rest of them. That's probably one of the top reasons that Professor Xavier assigned her the duty of looking after these children. It somewhat resembled a Daycare center. "Mutant Kindergarten" is what Marie liked to call it.   
  
Marie only watched them from early in the morning to noon, but she tried to make them have as best of a time as humanly possible. Half of the time, they danced and sang around the large room that the Professor provided for the children to occupy. The kids weren't spawns of Satan. They definitely were not that much trouble, but Marie was feeling stressed for the first time in a while. She knew that the semiformal dance, or "The Ball", as the Professor called it, would be the biggest event at the school, and it would arrive in no less then two months. In addition, all she could think about lately was the idea that she might finally be able to have human contact.  
  
An idea finally struck Marie through all of the concerns floating around in her head. She suddenly sat up and clapped her hands, trying to get the children's attention.   
  
Although it took a while, one by one they all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Marie with questioning looks.  
  
"It's time to dance, guys!" She grinned while she put the latest CD mix (that Jubilee made for her reluctantly) into the stereo, as excitement clearly could be seen out of the children's facial expressions. 'It's amazing where bribery can get you these days,' Marie thought to herself, remembering how Jubilee thought that the music was too ridiculous to put on a CD, and almost refused to do it.  
  
In seconds, "La Bamba" was making itself known for a second time, booming out of the speakers. After "testing" the song out last night, Marie decided that the kids would probably enjoy dancing to it.   
  
She danced with the children cheerfully, doing the same unique dance moves that she'd done the previous night. To the children it seemed normal. To a person passing by the classroom, it seemed like a major sign of insanity. The kids seemed to voluntarily follow Marie around the room in a line, dancing freely and giggling.  
  
While a part of her hoped that Logan wouldn't somehow walk in, another part of her prayed that he would. She thought he was probably sleeping anyway. It was 11:30 in the morning, and he did seem extremely tired that night. She wouldn't be suprised if Logan slept through the day.  
  
It was only half way into the song when suddenly it just stopped. The music ended. Marie snapped her head towards the stereo, looking over the person who had shut off the music. Marie glared at her, running a hand through her hair. This became a habit for whenever she was frustrated. Meanwhile the children looked about each other, seeming confused. Then their expressions turned to fear when they saw Brooke.   
  
"I thought you taught them to dance, not to make fools of themselves." Brooke laughed at her own remark, walking over to the chalkboard.   
  
Marie snickered when she overheard a child whispering "This sucks" to the other.   
  
"At one point I thought you were supposed to teach them the basics. You know, how to add, the alphabet, and all of that great stuff. So far all you taught them is how to fear," Marie said in an angry tone as she moved to pick up her bag, lying on a nearby chair.  
  
"Don't tell me how to teach, Rogue. They're going to learn, and I don't care how as long as they do," Brooke said, turning her attention to the children, "Sit down and take out a piece of paper and pen. Let's begin where we left off yesterday."  
  
"Whatever makes you happy," Marie muttered to herself. She almost forgot to say good-bye to them when she suddenly heard Joey yell out, "Bye, Rogue! See you tomorrow!"   
  
It was the funniest thing in her day yet, watching Joey yell out in the middle of Brooke's mini-lecture, just to say bye to her. Brooke's face held such frustration that she nearly wanted to choke the child.  
  
She smiled warmly at the boy and mouthed, "Bye, sweetheart," before giving Brooke one hell of a glare, warning her not to scold Joey over this.  
  
The children began to lay their heads down on the desk, trying to get comfortable. This was going to be an extremely long hour with Brooke, or as they were told to call her, "Ms. Chantilly." The kids appreciated how Rogue made the atmosphere friendlier by allowing the students to call her "Rogue" as opposed to a more formal name.  
  
By now the children learned that it was just better to sleep through Ms. Chantilly's lessons as opposed to listen to what she actually had to say. Brooke acted as if she was training an army. She didn't see them as young and jovial kindergartners. Never once did it occur to her that the children would only learn if it was interesting or somewhat fun for them. It probably never would occur to her. All she was concerned about was Logan.   
  
A part of her thought that Logan would admire her for being a "role model" to these kids. Brooke considered herself to be much more professional compared to Marie. Thank God Logan never actually witnessed how Brooke tried to teach her class. He'd be stunned.  
  
---  
  
Marie made her way up the stairs quickly. She was experiencing a sudden and unwelcome major headache, and she wasn't going to allow anything to make it worse. She made her way down half the hallway, taking her time all of a sudden by walking slowly. Her head pounded fiercely, making it difficult to think. She was almost forgetting where she was going and why she was going there.  
  
'"Tylenol.. Room.. Sleep," she reminded herself, making herself more determined to get there.   
  
With sudden and careless movements, she felt her own body accidentally collide into another. She felt herself fall forward onto a strong, warm chest. And this, all happening within a second, she managed to get a scent of the cologne that seemed to be surrounding the other person. It smelled familiar, but she couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
He held on to her, helping her stand as opposed to crashing to the floor.  
  
"Are you having a hangover?"  
  
She recognized his voice immediately, but since when did he wear cologne?  
  
"Are you going on a date?" She replied, trying to rub her head with one hand while using her other free hand to hold on to him.  
  
"Yes. It's going to be me and my first true love -- her name is 'Beer'." He smirked at the way she rolled her eyes, despite the headache.   
  
"Logan, please. Not now. I'm tired, I feel like crap, and to top it off, I'm going through pms," she shot back at him.  
  
He grinned, helping her walk down the rest of the hallway towards her room.  
  
"The kids were rough today?" He asked as he debated within his mind whether to carry her or not. Would she accept? Well, of course, but it was only a couple of more feet until her room was in close range.  
  
"Oh yes. They're such violent eight-year-olds. God, can't you see all the scratches and burns on my skin from their daily planned attacks? They can make your claws seem like plastic knives, sunshine." Her voice was thick with sarcasm as she almost slid out of his grasp, but he caught her just in time. Maybe he shouldn't carry her. He feared for his safety at this point. Marie was pissed, and that gave him reasons to be afraid.   
  
"If only your pms went as quickly as it came, do you have any idea about how much of a better world it would be?"   
  
"Thanks for the optimistic thought. I'll keep that in mind," she said while still trying to regain her balance.   
  
He struggled with Marie in one arm and trying to turn the door knob at the same time. Thank God they at least made it this far.  
  
"What the hell got into you?" He finally decided to kick the door open. Screw door knobs.  
  
"That was loud, Logan," She moaned.  
  
"I love how this happens every time I want to ask you about serious things," He said mostly to himself as he gently laid her down onto the bed.  
  
"What happens?" She shut her eyes and rubbed her temples tiredly.  
  
"You get sick or fall asleep and find a new love for Midol and water. How did it happen? You just got sick?" His voice now came from the bathroom. She figured he was trying to find the Midol.   
  
She nodded before speaking, "It just hit me. It happens sometimes. I'm not too sure why. And you had something serious to ask me about? What next? Me, you, and beer are going to have a threesome?"  
  
He didn't answer. He was still in the bathroom, trying to figure out where the hell she hid the Midol.   
  
"Oh, I know. You're going to ask me to the semiformal thing right, Romeo?" She laughed quietly at the thought, despite how much the pains in her head objected to her even thinking about moving.  
  
He shook his head at the words coming out of her mouth. Finally, he spotted a small little bottle hidden behind an overly large yellow container of floss. He chuckled at the thought of Jubilee even owning yellow floss. After finally spotting the well-hidden Midol, he brought it to Marie after filling up a nearby cup with water.  
  
"Thank you, Romeo," she said funnily while he handed her the aspirin.  
  
"Sometimes you scare me. Plus, I think I've seen you more then anyone else in this school since I came. Even funnier, I haven't had a single serious conversation with you yet." He sat on the edge of the bed while stretching his arms out a bit.   
  
"We've had serious conversations within in the past 48 hours, Logan. This one seems serious too," she said before swallowing the aspirin gratefully.  
  
"I can tell. You only called me 'Romeo' two minutes ago."   
  
She shrugged as a response. Since when were sincere conversations a necessity to Logan? This was barely a conversation that they were just having. For some reason she considered it some sort of "sarcastic exchange". Apparently he had to ask her something fairly important, and he couldn't get it out. That was driving him crazy, despite how much he was trying to contain himself. She stayed quiet so he could take the opportunity to go on.  
  
"Marie? I need to ask you something, but you have to answer honestly. We're done with the joking," he looked at her with his intense chocolate eyes. His eyes would be able to make a wild lion as tame as a kitten.  
  
Sometimes Marie felt as if he was talking to her like she never grew up. Other times she wondered if she was capable of being more mature then Logan himself, as unlikely as it seemed at times. Breaking through all of her thoughts, he finally asked the question.  
  
"Were you kidding when you talked about being able to have human contact last night?"  
  
She returned his intense stare with her own eyes, forgetting about the pain in her head.  
  
"No."   
  
As much as she hated to admit it, a small part of her made her believe that he was going to ask her to be his date at the semiformal dance. No. How stupid. Logan didn't do dates, he did one night stands. Even worse, it was a dance at a high school. That was definitly not Logan's style. What could possibly possess Marie to think that Logan would ever in his lifetime even dress in a tuxedo? She felt her headache getting worse.   
  
Another idea quickly crossed her mind. Maybe Logan didn't know about the semiformal. No, he only missed each of the 500 posters around the school talking about "The Summer Ball".   
  
She tried to comfort herself by thinking, 'I'd much rather prefer to stay in my room and eat Chinese instead of going to a dance of all places. Chinese is just better. It's like comfort food without the heartache I guess.'   
  
Yes, the idea of finally being able to touch meant a lot to her, but somehow Logan meant even more to her.   
  
Little did she know, he still wasn't done with his questions.  
  
_____________________________________________________________________  
  
Author's note: It's 1:05AM. Yeaa I'm done with chapter 5. I'm trying not to make the semiformal sound corny, I swear lmao. I hope you guys liked it. Please review, good and bad. It's always welcome lmao. See you guys in chapter 6.  
  
- Escense 


End file.
